User blog:Lord Loss/Discussion of the Week: 1st and 2nd Generation Small Monsters
Welcome to Discussion of the Week: 1st and 2nd Generation Small Monsters! I know, the title is quite a mouth-full. I tried to think of a shorter, punchier way of phrasing it... and came up with nothing. Anyway, this week we're taking a look at some of the smaller, arguably more... inconsequential monsters that turned up in the series up to and including Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. They're important in their own right, after all. 'Lynians' Felyne Oh, aren't they adorable? First introduced in the original Monster Hunter, it's not hard to see why they soon became posterboys (and girls) for the series. Whilst we probably know them best as Comrades and Chefs, they can also be found in the wild, where they turn aggressive surprisingly quickly if you attack them. Melynx Still adorable, much more annoying, I find. Stop stealing my healing items, I need those! Shakalaka I've lost count how many times I've died because of Shakalaka. Not directly - although they do inflict bizarrely high damage for such a small monster - but because they distract or stun you at opportune moments. Like when a G-Rank Azure Rathalos is charging at your face. 'Herbivores' Aptonoth Bless them, they always seem to get picked on. Eaten by Rathalos in his MH1 intro cutscene, eaten by Plesioth in its ecology, eaten by almost any passing carnivore in the 3rd Gen... life is probably quite tough for an Aptonoth. Apceros I'm way less sympathetic to these guys. Why do you have to keep attacking the Hunter just because you were struck a glancing blow by Diablos? Why? Popo Awww, slow, gentle mammoths, yet firm in the defense of their adorable young. I do wonder why they don't just walk off the top of the mountains, as it doesn't look like they can see where they're going... but let's not question these things. Oh, and they do get eaten quite a lot in their 3rd Gen return. Kelbi Adorable. Easy to accidentally kill, but adorable nonetheless. Interesting mechanic in 3rd Gen, where they could be stunned then carved to massively increase the odds of carving one particular item (horns). That's an idea that deserves to be used on something more significant. Bullfango No-one likes Bullfango. No-one. If you think you do, YOU ARE WRONG, and should have your head examined. Why did Capcom put these in the game? I'm sure there must be a reason, but for the life of me I can't see one. Anteka A mildly less aggressive Bullfango for the snowy regions. OK. I can live with that. No idea why they were brought back for the 3rd Generation, but whatever. 'Neopterons' Vespoid Oh, Vespoids, thou art truly infamous. And not in the good electric-based way either. Let's see: turns up absolutely everywhere, inflicts Paralysis on you when (and only when) some much bigger monster is about to come and use your head as a football. Nice going, Vespoids. I suppose they have one legitimate purpose in that they molest Gunners who are camped out and trying to cheaply snipe the monster from somewhere unreachable... but that's about it. Hornetaurs They add to the biodiversity of Monster Hunter... and that's about it. No status inflictions, no surprisingly damaging attacks... nothing. A Hornetaur King might have been a good idea, but as one doesn't exist... Great Thunderbugs Annoying, certainly (why is it always Neopterons that paralyse?!) but marginally more interesting in concept; each orb is actually a swarm of little ones that acts as a whole. And I like how they're utilised by a seemingly unrelated boss monster (Yama Tsukami, if you're wondering). 'Bird Wyverns' Velociprey, Giaprey, Genprey, Ioprey Call me lazy, unprofessional, whatever, I'm not doing all these guys individually. They're certainly more varied and brightly coloured than their 3rd gen counterparts, but more annoying, especially with their huge jumps. Huge paralysing jumps, in the case of Genprey. Special mention to the Akura that crushes a Genprey with its tail in the 3rd Frontier benchmark, that was pretty damn cool. 'Piscines' Cephalos Well, at least they continue the trend of monsters on this list of being a pain in the ass, especially when you're actually trying to hunt the things in some early quests. Come in range of my Sonic Bombs, dammit! But that aside... does anyone find them interesting? 'Pelagus' Conga Why are they pink? Surely they stick out like a sore thumb in the Jungle or Swamp? One for the theory blog there, I think. Oh, they have the honor of being the only minor monster to inflict 'Soiled', I think. So well done Conga. Blango Very weirdly I think these guys have a rage mode - certainly, when summoned by an angry Blangonga, I've seen them huffing white foggy breaths, which they don't normally do. They also have that annoying ice-throw attack... I don't like these guys. 'Carapaceons' Hermitaurs Clearly an expy of Hermit crabs. I do like the idea of a desert-dwelling land crab, and these guys are pleasantly easy to kill. They're just a nice bit of variety, I guess. There should be purple individuals, though. Ceanataurs They're adorable until they start chasing you down at frankly terrifying speeds. How do they run that fast? And obviously they trip you up just in time for a full grown Shogun Ceanataur to come and slice you to bits. 'Flying Wyverns' Remobra Yeah, this is a small category. What is there to say about Remobra? Interesting concept I suppose, sort-of scavengers that turn up all over the place in large packs. Not the most thrilling design, but I suppose not every monster can be as exciting as Zinogre... __NOEDITSECTION__ 'Questions' *Which has your favourite design? *Which is your least favourite? **Which is the most annoying? *Should any of these be brought back in future Monster Hunter games (that haven't already?) 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